News & Press

2017

Stabilizing C9ORF72 RNA Lowers Toxicity

1 December 2017 – Hexanucleotide repeat expansions in the C9ORF72 gene cause many cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), though it is unclear which is most toxic, the expanded RNA or the dipeptide repeats that it encodes. In the November 7 EMBO Molecular Medicine, researchers led by Adrian Isaacs, Pietro Fratta, Rickie Patani, and Stephen Neidle, all at University College London, reported that stabilizing four-stranded G-quadruplex structures assumed by the expanded transcript suppressed accumulation of both RNA and peptides in cortical neurons. Read more...

Important Mechanism of Epigenetic Gene Regulation Identified

ZURICH, 30 September 2017 – How can defective gene activity, which can ultimately lead to cancer, be avoided? Researchers at the University of Zurich have now identified a mechanism how cells pass on the regulation of genetic information through epigenetic modifications. These insights open the door to new approaches for future cancer treatments. Read more...

Phenogenetic Map Created For Stem Cell Models Of Neurological Diseases

COLUMBUS, 19 October 2017 – In an effort to better understand neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS – and develop new ways to treat them – researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have performed the first meta-analysis of all induced pluripotent stem cell models for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, and created an atlas of how cell characteristics are linked to their genotype.Read more...

Can a Ganglioside Stop Huntington's Disease

EDMONTON, 12 October 2017 – An interesting and potentially game-changing animal study was published in EMBO Molecular Medicine recently, and it could lead to a viable treatment for patients with Huntington’s disease (HD).Read more...

How the lungs of premature babies can undergo damage

MUNICH, 29 September 2017 – Premature babies that need ventilation to support their breathing often suffer from a condition known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, partner in the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), have now discovered a molecular mechanism that plays a key role in the development of the disease. The study has been published in ‘EMBO Molecular Medicine’. Read more...

From bed to bench and back to bed: Mimicking how HPV-positive cancer responds to treatment

CHARLESTON, 7 September 2017 – Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who are positive for human papilloma virus (HPV-positive) have been observed to respond significantly better to chemo-radiotherapy than HPV-negative patients. This observation is surprising because HPV infection leads to an increased risk of developing oropharyngeal cancer. To date, the reason for this dichotomy has not been well understood. In an article in the August 2017 issue of EMBO: Molecular Medicine, researchers and clinicians at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center report having identified one of the underlying mechanisms -- expression of the viral protein E7 leads to cell death through mitophagy, a process that destroys the mitochondria. They went on to develop a novel peptide that mimics this pathway and improves therapeutic intervention in HPV-negative head and neck cancers. Read more...

Successes and challenges of leukaemia treatment using CAR-T cells – where are we now?

LANGEN, 1 August 2017 – Treatment of leukaemia and lymphomas using genetically modified immune cells of the patient (CAR-T cells) has produced impressive results in clinical trials, especially for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. However, serious adverse events were reported as well, partly with fatal outcome. A detailed summary of previously published results and a discussion of the reasons why less than ten percent of the clinical trials are conducted in Europe have been published by researchers under the supervision of the Paul-Ehrlich-Insitute in EMBO Molecular Medicine. Read more...

New therapeutic approach for ALS

TOKYO, 19 July 2017 – A group of University of Tokyo researchers and their collaborators have shown that enlarging the neuromuscular junctions of mice with ALS-like symptoms through a treatment method the team developed improved the animals’ condition and prolonged their lives. The current outcome presents a new approach for treating the motor neuron disease, with no known cure, through gene therapy and other methods to enlarge neuromuscular junctions after ALS onset. Read more...

A major advance towards a treatment for accelerated ageing

MARSEILLE, 3 July 2017 – In a study published today in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, the team led by Prof. Nicolas Lévy identifies the mechanism associated with the accumulation of progerin, a toxic protein produced in the course of ageing, and demonstrates the therapeutic potential of a new drug – MG132 – to treat progeria, a rare syndrome involving premature and accelerated ageing. Nicolas Lévy and his team have demonstrated the ability of this drug to considerably reduce progerin production and simultaneously degrade it. This drug, along with other compounds from the same family, is undergoing evaluation for the treatment of other rare diseases, as well as more common diseases including certain types of cancer. Read more...

Are tumor cells glutamine addicts?

HEIDELBERG, 13 April 2017 – Most cancers require large amounts of glutamine for rapid growth and there are numerous studies indicating that they cannot survive without it, a phenomenon termed “glutamine addiction”. This has fueled the idea that preventing tumors from glutamine uptake could be a potential therapeutic strategy. A study by researchers from Berlin and Würzburg, Germany, now concludes that while glutamine deprivation will halt the proliferation of certain tumor cells, most of them will not be killed, raising questions of whether such a therapeutic intervention will lead to remission in cancers. The study is published today in The EMBO Journal.Read more...

Effects of gut flora revisited

HEIDELBERG, 16 March 2016 – An unhealthy diet changes the composition of the gut flora and it is generally assumed that this maladaptation called “dysbiosis” triggers disease. A study by Matteo Serino and his colleagues at the Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France, now challenges this view. Using mice as a model organism, the researchers show that dysbiosis may have beneficial effects on liver metabolism and may protect against metabolic disease. The study is published today in Molecular Systems Biology. Read more...

Targeting a tumor trigger

HEIDELBERG, 15 March 2017 – Many cancer patients that receive chemotherapy go into remission at first, but relapse after treatment is discontinued. There is increasing evidence that this is due to the presence of cancer stem cells – cells that reproduce indefinitely and may seed new tumors. A research group from Milan, Italy, now devised a strategy to specifically target cancer stem cells in some cancers and reduce their tumor-generating potential. The results are published today in EMBO Molecular Medicine. Read more...

A closer look at brain organoid development

HEIDELBERG, 10 March 2017 – How close to reality are brain organoids, and which molecular mechanisms underlie the remarkable self-organizing capacities of tissues? Researchers already have succeeded in growing so-called “cerebral organoids” in a dish - clusters of cells that self-organize into small brain-like structures. Juergen Knoblich and colleagues have now further characterized these organoids and publish their results today in The EMBO Journal. They demonstrate that, like in the human brain, so-called forebrain organizing centers orchestrate developmental processes in the organoid, and that organoids recapitulate the timing of neuronal differentiation events found in human brains. Read more...

A new molecular signature to orient patients towards the treatment which will be most effective for their tumor

MARSEILLE, 8 March 2017 – Results from Juan Iovanna’s team at the Centre de Recherche en Cancerologie de Marseille just published in the Journal EMBO Molecular Medicine describe the identification of a new molecular signature which allow pancreatic cancer patients’ response to targeted therapies which are more efficient than standard chemotherapy. Read more...

Scientists Wage Fight Against Aging Bone Marrow Stem Cell Niche

CINCINNATI, 8 March 2017 – As people get older so do the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that form their blood, creating an increased risk for compromised immunity and certain blood cancers. Now researchers are reporting in the The EMBO Journal that the bone marrow niche where HSC’s form also ages, contributing to the problem.In a study published March 2, scientists from the University of Ulm in Germany and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the United States propose rejuvenating the bone marrow niche where HSCs are created. This could mean younger acting HSCs that form healthier blood cells, boosted immunity in older people, and a better defense mechanism against certain cancers, according to study authors. Read more...

New treatment attacks liver disease and type 2 diabetes

STOCKHOLM, 02 March 2017 – Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology are planning the clinical trial of a new treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes which harnesses liver cells’ own ability to burn accumulated fats. In a study involving 86 people with varying degrees of fatty liver disease, researchers from KTH Science for Life Laboratory(SciLifeLab) research center and Gothenburg University found that the liver has the ability to burn up accumulated fats. The researchers propose a mixture of substances that will set this process in motion. Read more...

The genetics behind being Not Like Daddy

HEIDELBERG, 22 February 2017 – A common strategy to create high-yielding plants is hybrid breeding – crossing two different inbred lines to obtain characteristics superior to each parent. However, getting the inbred lines in the first place can be a hassle. Inbred lines consist of genetically uniform individuals and are created through numerous generations of self-crossing. In maize, the use of so-called “haploid inducers” provides a short cut to this cumbersome procedure, allowing to produce inbred lines in just one generation. A study by Laurine Gilles and colleagues, published today in The EMBO Journal, sheds light on the genetics behind haploid induction. “Knowing the molecular identity of haploid induction represents an important breakthrough to fully understand the fertilization process in plants, and hopefully will allow to translate this breeding tool to other species,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Thomas Widiez, an INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) researcher at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, France. Read more...

Queen's researchers make breakthrough in fight against superbug

BELFAST, 16 February 2017 – Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have discovered why a lethal superbug is so resistant to the last line antibiotic meaning potential treatments could now be developed to fight the killer infection. The research carried out by Professor Jose Bengoechea, Director at the Centre for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University, and his team unveiled the molecular mechanisms preventing the treatment of klebsiella pneumonia. The multi-drug resistant microbe can cause bladder infections, pneumonia and has mortality rates of 25-60 percent.The research, which has been published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, was funded by The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Read more...

Lab study shows: A protein called PERK may be a target for treating progressive supranuclear palsy

MUNICH, 8 February 2017 – The brain disease “progressive supranuclear palsy” (PSP) is currently incurable and its symptoms can only be eased to a very limited degree. PSP impairs eye movements, locomotion, balance control, and speech. Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now discovered a molecular mechanism that may help in the search for effective treatments. Their study focusses on a protein called PERK (protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase). A team of researchers led by Prof. Günter Höglinger reports on this in the journal „EMBO Molecular Medicine“. Read more...

HEIDELBERG, 1 February 2017 – EMBO is pleased to announce the appointment of microbiologist Philippe Sansonetti as new Chief Editor of EMBO Molecular Medicine. Dr Sansonetti, who is the Director of the Molecular Microbial Pathogenesis Laboratory at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, takes up the post with immediate effect. Read more...

2017 LOUIS-JEANTET PRIZE FOR MEDICINE

GENEVA, 24 January 2017 – The 2017 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine is awarded to SILVIA ARBER, Professor of Neurobiology at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland and senior group leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI) in Basel, Switzerland, and to the immunologist CAETANO REIS E SOUSA, senior group leader at the Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom. Read more...

LONDON, 25 January 2017 – A team led by UCL researchers has identified how HIV is able to infect macrophages, a type of white blood cell integral to the immune system, despite the presence of a protective protein. They discovered a treatment that can maintain macrophage defences which could be a key part of the puzzle of reaching a complete cure for HIV/AIDS. Read more...

Remembering where to get high

HEIDELBERG, 11 January 2017 – Addiction-related memories are exceptionally strong and stable, suggesting that addictive drugs remodel the brain’s circuitry in a prominent and lasting way. In the past decade, researchers have used mouse models to unravel how cellular changes in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain structure involved in action selection associated with arousal and reward, may contribute to addiction-related behavior. Whereas neuronal remodeling in the NAc explains a wide range of addictive behaviors, it is not required for all of them, according to a study published today in The EMBO Journal. Read more...

2016

Rejuvenating the brain’s disposal system

HEIDELBERG, 21 December 2016 – A characteristic feature of Alzheimer’s disease is the presence of so called amyloid plaques in the patient’s brain – aggregates of misfolded proteins that clump together and damage nerve cells. Although the body has mechanisms to dispose these aggregates, it apparently cannot keep up with the load in the diseased brain. Researchers from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich and the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) Munich have now discovered a strategy to help the brain remove amyloid plaques. More precisely: they uncovered a factor that can activate microglial cells to engulf newly forming clumps in the brain. Microglia are the scavenger cells of the brain’s immune system that function in keeping the brain tidy and free of any damaging material. The work is published today in The EMBO Journal. Read more...

Thwarting autoimmune diseases

MUNICH, 28 November 2016 – The immunoproteasome dismantles proteins and the resulting fragments are displayed on the surface of cells. This helps the immune system to recognize abnormal cells. However, in chronic inflammations and autoimmune diseases this “information channel” is overactive. Now researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have determined the molecular mechanisms of inhibitors that can selectively thwart the human immunoproteasome - important insights for the targeted development of new drugs. Read more...

Microbes in your gut influence major eye disease

MONTREAL, 15 November 2016 – Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the industrialized world, affecting over 10 million individuals in North America. A study lead by Dr. Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, researcher at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal) and professor at the University of Montreal, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, uncovered that bacteria in your intestines may play an important role in determining if you will develop blinding wet AMD. Read more...

Collapse of mitochondria-associated membrane in ALS

NAGOYA, 09 November 2016 – Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an adult onset, fetal neurodegenerative disease that selectively affects motor neurons. To date, more than 20 genes are identified as a causative of inherited ALS, and many researchers investigate the pathomechanism of ALS. A research team led by Prof. Koji Yamanaka (Nagoya University) found that collapse of the MAM is a common pathological hallmark to two distinct inherited forms of ALS: SOD1- and SIGMAR1- linked ALS. The research findings were reported in EMBO Molecular Medicine on November 7th, 2016. Read more...

Causative gene for sensorineural hearing loss identified

KOBE, 06 October 2016 – A causative gene for a highly common type of hearing loss (sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL) has been identified by a group of Japanese researchers, who successfully replicated the condition using a transgenic mouse. This discovery could potentially be used to develop new treatments for hearing loss. The findings were published on October 5 in the online version of EMBO Molecular Medicine. Read more...

Psychotropic drugs are no solution

BOCHUM, 12 September 2016 – Many patients suffering from mental illness are treated with psychotropic drugs rather than psychotherapy. The results may be disastrous for them, claim psychologists from Bochum. Read more...

A gene defect as a potential gateway for targeted prostate cancer therapy

HEIDELBERG, 5 September 2016 – The loss of CHD1, one of the most frequently mutated genes in prostate tumors, sensitizes human prostate cancer cells to different drugs, including PARP inhibitors. This suggests CHD1 as a potential biomarker for targeted prostate cancer therapy. These are the results of a study published today in EMBO reports. Read more...

PARIS, 22 August 2016 – Scientists from the Institut Pasteur have demonstrated the role of lysosomal vesicles in transporting α-synuclein aggregates, responsible for Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative diseases, between neurons. These proteins move from one neuron to the next in lysosomal vesicles which travel along the "tunneling nanotubes" between cells. Read more...

EMBO Press citation distributions are on the way to become standard at journals

Transparency of citation distributions illustrates that Journal Impact Factor (JIF) does not predict citations to an individual paper and that arithmetic application of JIF to quantitative research assessment is misleading.

The importance of keeping silent... in breast cancer cells

BARCELONA, 7 July 2016 – Sometimes, the silencing of a gene is as important as its activation. Nonetheless, up to now, most studies on hormone-mediated gene regulation have focused on researching the factors that influence the activation of certain genes. Little attention has been paid to gene silencing. But researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) have discovered that there is a mechanism of active repression in hormone-dependent breast cancer cells that acts on genes related with cell proliferation and death. Read more...

The absence of a single protein spurs muscle aging in mice

BARCELONA, 22 June 2016 – IRB Barcelona researchers discover that the loss of the protein Mitofusin 2 in the muscles of young mice speeds up aging and causes early sarcopenia, thus leading to the muscle quality of aged mice. Sarcopenia, which is muscle wastage and the accompanied loss of strength, is one of the most weakening conditions of old age and it has no treatment. The scientists propose that stimulating Mitofusin 2 activity would provide a good strategy through which to ameliorate sarcopenia. Read more...

Research opens new treatment strategies for specific form of Psoriasis

GENT, 25 April 2016 – Psoriasis is a long-lasting autoimmune disease that is characterized by patches of abnormal and inflamed skin. It is generally thought to have a genetic origin, which can be further triggered by environmental factors. People with specific mutations in the CARD14 gene have a high probability of developing psoriasis. A VIB/UGent research team now reveals the molecular signaling mechanism by which mutations in CARD14 lead to increased inflammation in patients with psoriasis. The results are published in the prestigious journal EMBO Reports. Read more...

Discovery of a new pathogenic mechanism in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

STRASBOURG, 21 April 2016 – The team of Nicolas Charlet-Berguerand at the IGBMC in collaboration with the team of Edor Kabashi at the Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord Disorders (ICM) in Paris have set light a new pathogenic mechanism in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Read more...

Angiogenesis factor found to promote three age-related diseases of the eye

BOSTON, 11 April 2016 – A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigator has found that increased expression of the angiogenic factor VEGF-A promotes three common aging-related eye conditions – both versions of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and also cataracts – in an animal model. While VEGF-A was known to be associated with neovascular or ‘wet’ AMD, whether it was a direct cause of the condition was unknown. Its role in ‘dry’ AMD was even less certain, and its contribution to cataract formation was totally unexpected. Read more...

A new biomarker of brain inflammation in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease

HEIDELBERG, 3 March 2016 – Researchers at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), and the Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD) in Munich, Germany, have identified a brain inflammationmarker in patients at early asymptomatic stages of Alzheimer’s disease. This secreted marker molecule, which can be measured from cerebrospinal fluid taps, may provide clinicians with a rapidly detectable biomarker for the transition from preclinical Alzheimer’s disease to cognitive impairment and progression to full dementia. Such is the conclusion of a multi-center study on a large group of human patients, published online in EMBO Molecular Medicine. Read more...

Discovery of a gene associated with a set of poorly understood rare diseases

BACRCELONA, 2 March 2016 – IRB Barcelona identifies GEMC1 as a master gene for the generation of multiciliated cells—cells with fine filaments that move fluids and substances—which are found exclusively in the brain, respiratory tract, and reproductive system. Defects in multiciliated cells lead to ciliopathies—rare and complex diseases that are poorly understood and for which not all causative genes have been identified. Read more...

Wbp2 is a novel gene implicated in deafness

HEIDELBERG, 8 February 2016 – Researchers at King's College London and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom have for the first time demonstrated a direct link between the Wbp2 gene and progressive hearing loss. The scientists report that the loss of Wbp2 expression leads to progressive high-frequency hearing loss in mouse as well as in two clinical cases of children with deafness with no other obvious features. The results are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine. Read more...

Ring- and arc-shaped pores drive stressed cells to a programmed death

TÜBINGEN, 1 February 2016 – Damaged cells can commit suicide by a process of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. If this mechanism fails to work properly, the cell can become cancerous. Scientists are helping to explain important steps in the process of apoptosis. They know from previous studies that apoptosis begins with the activation of what are known as Bax proteins. If a cell is under stress, Bax proteins deposit on the surface of mitochondria in symmetrical pairs. The researchers then observed that the otherwise impermeable shell of the mitochondria becomes permeable – letting through cytochrome c. Once that happens, the process of cellular death cannot be reversed. But what happened in between was a mystery which for a long time puzzled apoptosis researchers. Now Ana García-Sáez and her team have been able to use a supermicroscope to watch how Bax proteins form pores in the mitochondrial shell, making it permeable. Read more...

2016 LOUIS-JEANTET PRIZE FOR MEDICINE

GENEVA, 19 January 2016 – The 2016 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine is awarded to ANDREA BALLABIO, founder and director of the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM), Italy, and to the biochemist JOHN DIFFLEY, associate research director at the Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom. Read more...

2015

First single-cell transcriptomes of pancreas cells established

VIENNA, 22 December 2015 – The pancreas is a crucial organ for eating behavior, digestion and metabolism and it plays a major role in the development of diabetes. In so called “Langerhans Islets”, specialized groups of cells precisely regulate blood sugar. But they are hard to study, only a few molecular markers are known to differentiate those pancreatic cell types. With the first single cell transcriptomes, established by Stefan Kubicek and Christoph Bock at CeMM, a new powerful tool for future investigations has been created to overcome those problems. Read more...

Molecular trigger for Cerebral Cavernous Malformation identified

HEIDELBERG, 26 November 2015 – Researchers in Italy, Germany and the United States have identified a regulatory protein crucial for the development of Cerebral Cavernous Malformation – a severe and incurable disease mainly affecting the brain microvasculature. The results, which are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, show that the KLF4 protein plays a central role in the development of CCM lesions. Read more...

Master switch for brain development

MAINZ, 18 November 2015 – Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz have unravelled a complex regulatory mechanism that explains how a single gene can drive the formation of brain cells. The research, published in The EMBO Journal, is an important step towards a better understanding of how the brain develops. It also harbours potential for regenerative medicine. Read more...

Uptake mechanisms of cytostatics discovered

BERLIN, 2 November 2015 – How does a cytostatic like cisplatin or carboplatin actually get into the cell? Scientists at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) and the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin, in cooperation with a Dutch group, have now succeeded in showing that the volume-regulated anion channel VRAC is 50 % responsible for active substance uptake. If one of the VRAC subunits LRRC8A or LRRC8D is down-regulated, cells take up considerably less of the anti-cancer drug. In addition to this finding, programmed cell death or apoptosis is also significantly disturbed when LRRC8A is missing. The researchers have thus identified a potential cause for therapy resistance. The new findings have just appeared in the specialist magazine the EMBO Journal and hold high clinical relevance. Read more...

RNA glue for the protein assembly line

HEIDELBERG, 21 October 2015 – Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have discovered how RNA molecules regulate the structure of the nucleolus and drive the synthesis of the cellular machinery needed for protein production. When cells grow and divide rapidly, they need to run up the production of proteins. The cellular machinery for this task is synthesized and assembled in a special compartment of the cell nucleus called the nucleolus. The nucleolus constantly adapts its shape if the cell needs to produce more or less protein. Accordingly, fast dividing tumor cells often have bigger nucleoli. Read more...

Switching on paternal behaviour

HEIDELBERG, 30 September 2015 – Male mice dramatically change their social behaviour towards newborn pups after mating and cohabitation with pregnant females. Japanese neurobiologists now report in The EMBO Journal that activation of defined small regions of the mouse brain determine whether a male mouse will show infanticidal or paternal behaviour. Mice that were only motivated for, but did not actually carry out infanticide, display the same activity patterns, indicating that it may be possible to detect motivation for complex behaviours by studying activation of a small selection of brain nuclei. Read more...

Reducing resistance to chemotherapy in colorectal cancer by inhibition of PHD1

GENT, 19 August, 2015 – Scientists at VIB and KU Leuven have shown that blocking the PHD1 oxygen sensor hinders the activation of p53, a transcription factor that aids colorectal cancer (CRC) cells in repairing themselves and thus resisting chemotherapy. Chemotherapy resistance remains a major clinical issue in the treatment of CRC. These findings indicate that PHD1 inhibition may have valuable therapeutic potential. The study was published in the leading medical journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, which features molecular biology-driven research. Read more...

Live imaging reveals how wound healing influences cancer

HEIDELBERG, 1 July 2015 – Researchers in the United Kingdom and Denmark have studied the "see-through" larvae of zebrafish to reveal how wound healing leads to skin cancer. Live imaging shows neutrophils, the protective inflammatory cells of the body's immune system, diverted from an induced wound to any nearby precancerous skin cells. The newly arrived neutrophils cause rapid division of these skin cells, which may cause them to progress to melanoma. Read more...

BETHESDA, 2 July 2015 – Spider-like cells inside the brain, spinal cord and eye hunt for invaders, capturing and then devouring them. These cells, called microglia, often play a beneficial role by helping to clear trash and protect the central nervous system against infection. But a new study by researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) shows that they also accelerate damage wrought by blinding eye disorders, such as retinitis pigmentosa. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health. Read more...

Penn Team Identifies Gene Responsible for Some Cases of Male Infertility

PHILADELPHIA, 1 July 2015 – In the most severe form of male infertility, men do not make any measurable levels of sperm. This condition, called azoospermia, affects approximately 1 percent of the male population and is responsible for about a sixth of cases of male infertility.
Oftentimes men with azoospermia don’t know the underlying cause of their condition. But new research led by University of Pennsylvania scientists suggests that mutations in an X chromosome gene called TEX11 are responsible for a significant number of cases of infertility — an estimated 1 percent of cases of non-obstructive azoospermia. Read more...

Silence is Golden

MUNICH, 26 May 2015 – An LMU team has uncovered a new role for the protein Atrx, which is involved in various aspects of gene expression. The new work shows that the protein is also involved in silencing endogenous retroviral genomes integrated in cellular DNA.Read more in English, or in German...

CNIO scientists are able to take immortality from cancer

MADRID, 13 May 2015 – Scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO) have discovered a new strategy to fight cancer, which is very different from those described to date. Their work shows for the first time that telomeres - the structures protecting the end of chromosomes - may represent an effective anti-cancer target: by blocking the TRF1 gene, which is essential for the telomeres, they have shown dramatic improvements in mice with lung cancer. Read more...

Control Switch That Modulates Cell Stress Response May Be Key to Multiple Diseases

SAN DIEGO, 25 March 2015 – Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a control switch for the unfolded protein response (UPR), a cellular stress relief mechanism drawing major scientific interest because of its role in cancer, diabetes, inflammatory disorders and several neural degenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Read more...

Quality control for adult stem cell treatment

HEIDELBERG, 27 February 2015 – A team of European researchers has devised a strategy to ensure that adult epidermal stem cells are safe before they are used as treatments for patients. The approach involves a clonal strategy where stem cells are collected and cultivated, genetically modified and single cells isolated before being rigorously tested to make sure they meet the highest possible safety criteria. The strategy, which is published online in EMBO Molecular Medicine, is inspired by the approaches the biotechnology industry and regulatory affairs authorities have adopted for medicinal proteins produced from genetically engineered mammalian cells. Read more...

Scientists use tissue engineering to grow leg muscle

HEIDELBERG, 25 February 2015 – A team of researchers from Italy, Israel and the United Kingdom has succeeded in generating mature, functional skeletal muscles in mice using a new approach for tissue engineering. The scientists grew a leg muscle starting from engineered cells cultured in a dish to produce a graft. The subsequent graft was implanted close to a normal, contracting skeletal muscle where the new muscle was nurtured and grown. In time, the method could allow for patient-specific treatments for a large number of muscle disorders. The results are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine. Read more...

Anti-inflammatory drug counters obesity in mice

HEIDELBERG, 19 February 2015 – Obesity represents a global health problem with limited options available for its prevention or treatment. The finding that a key regulator of energy expenditure and body weight is controlled by a drug-targeted inflammatory enzyme opens new possibilities for pharmacologically modulating body weight. This is the conclusion of a study led by Toshihiro Nakajima of Tokyo Medical University in Japan, reported in The EMBO Journal. Read more...

A door opener for cell suicide

GÖTTINGEN, 20 January 2015 – Every day, billions of cells in our body kill themselves. Although this may sound dramatic: This controlled dying is vital because it protects us from cancer as well as other diseases and plays an important role in development. Responsible for this self-induced cell death, called apoptosis, are the power houses of living cells, the mitochondria. When their surfaces become permeable, it is the point of no return for the cell – it dies. Göttingen scientists around Stefan Jakobs have shown for the first time that the so-called Bax proteins form annular structures on the mitochondria. These rings could act as pores and so make the mitochondrial surface permeable. Read more...

2014

Bats are a possible source of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa

HEIDELBERG, 30 December 2014 – The outbreak of the Ebola virus disease occurring in West Africa may have originated from contact between humans and virus-infected bats, suggests a study led by researchers from the Robert Koch-Institute in Berlin, Germany. The report, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, identifies insectivorous free-tailed bats as plausible reservoirs and expands the range of possible Ebola virus sources to this type of bats. The results also reveal that larger wildlife are not the source of infection. Read more...

Building muscle – one splice at a time

MARTINSRIED, 23 December 2014 – Humans possess different types of muscles. While the heart pumps blood through our vessels, skeletal muscles allow us to lift weights or run marathons. Depending on their specific function, the different muscle types adapt their molecular architecture. Particular combinations of protein subunits form variants of the contractile apparatus of the muscle, the sarcomere. Studying the flight muscles of the fruit fly Drosophila, scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, discovered an important concept explaining how the contractile machinery of the flight muscles is built differently to other body muscles. The results published in the journal EMBO Reports may help to eventually understand and treat human myopathies or cardiomyopathies. Read more...

MONTEROTONDO, 22 October 2014 – Our immune system defends us from harmful bacteria and viruses, but, if left unchecked, the cells that destroy those invaders can turn on the body itself, causing auto-immune diseases like type-1 diabetes or multiple sclerosis. A molecule called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) boosts the body’s natural defence against this ‘friendly fire’, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, have found. The findings, published today in EMBO Molecular Medicine, are especially exciting because IGF-1 is already approved for use in patients, which could speed up the move to clinical trials for treating auto-immune diseases. Read more...

Autophagy helps fast track stem cell activation

HEIDELBERG, 14 October 2014 – Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered a link between a protective mechanism used by cells and the activation of muscle stem cells. Cells use autophagy to recycle cellular "building blocks" and generate energy during times of nutrient deprivation. The scientists report in The EMBO Journal that when this protective mechanism is operational it also seems to assist in the activation of stem cells. Read more...

HEIDELBERG, 8 October 2014 – Researchers in Spain have determined how a transcription factor known as Mirror regulates tumour-like growth in the intestines of fruit flies. The scientists believe a related system may be at work in humans during the progression of colorectal cancer due to the observation of similar genes and genetic interactions in cultured colorectal cancer cells. The results are reported in the journal EMBO reports. Read more...

Dendritic cells affect onset and progress of psoriasis

HEIDELBERG, 12 September 2014 –Different types of dendritic cells in human skin have assorted functions in the early and more advanced stages of psoriasis report researchers in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. The scientists suggest that new strategies to regulate the composition of dendritic cells in psoriatic skin lesions might represent an approach for the future treatment of the disease. Read more in English, or read more in German...

Researchers identify a new suppressor or breast metastasis to the lung

BARCELONA, 27 May 2014 –The research headed by Roger Gomis at IRB Barcelona, with the collaboration of Joan Massagué, describes that the loss of the suppressor RARRES3 promotes the colonization of breast cancer cells in the lung. Read more...

Endocrine disruptors impair human sperm function

HEIDELBERG, 12 May 2014 – A plethora of endocrine-disrupting chemicals interfere with human sperm function in a way that may have a negative impact on fertilization. These are the findings of a German - Danish team of researchers from the Center of Advanced European Studies and Research in Bonn, Germany, and the University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. The work, which is published in EMBO reports, suggests that endocrine disruptors may contribute to widespread fertility problems in the Western world in a way that hitherto has not been recognized. Read more...

Plugging leaky blood vessels to save vision

TORONTO, 9 May 2014 – A new drug approach has been developed for safer clean-up of deformed blood vessels in the eye by a research team at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Read more...

Mouse study offers new clues to cognitive decline

ST. LOUIS, 8 May 2014 – New research suggests that certain types of brain cells may be “picky eaters,” seeming to prefer one specific energy source over others. The finding has implications for understanding the cognitive decline seen in aging and degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. Read more...

New cause of high blood pressure and heart disease discovered

VIENNA, 5 May 2014 – Why phosphate rich foods can increase blood pressure and promote vascular calcifications has been discovered by scientists at the Vetmeduni Vienna. The key is the hormone, FGF23 (Fibroblast Growth Factor 23). When the level of FGF23 is raised, as through a high phosphate diet, calcium and sodium accumulate, putting strain on the cardiovascular system. The study appears today in the journal, EMBO Molecular Medicine. Read more...

Reconstructed ancient ocean reveals secrets about the origin of life

HEIDELBERG, 25 April 2014 – Researchers from the University of Cambridge have published details about how the first organisms on Earth could have become metabolically active. The results, which are reported in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, permit scientists to speculate how primitive cells learned to synthesize their organic components – the molecules that form RNA, lipids and amino acids. The findings also suggest an order for the sequence of events that led to the origin of life. Read more...

HELSINKI, 7 April 2014 – The researchers of the University of Helsinki, Finland, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, have shown that vitamin B3 form nicotinamide riboside can slow down the progression of mitochondrial disease, suggesting its potential as a novel therapy approach to adult-onset mitochondrial muscle diseases. Read more...

Some long non-coding RNAs are conventional after all

HEIDELBERG, 4 April 2014 – Not so long ago researchers thought that RNAs came in two types: coding RNAs that make proteins and non-coding RNAs that have structural roles. Then came the discovery of small RNAs that opened up whole new areas of research. Now researchers have come full circle and predicted that some long non-coding RNAs can give rise to small proteins that have biological functions. A recent study in The EMBO Journal describes how researchers have used ribosome profiling to identify several hundred long non-coding RNAs that may give rise to small peptides. Read more...

Small non-coding RNAs could be warning signs of cancer

HEIDELBERG, 17 February 2014 – Small non-coding RNAs can be used to predict if individuals have breast cancer conclude researchers who contribute to The Cancer Genome Atlas project. The results, which are published in EMBO reports, indicate that differences in the levels of specific types of non-coding RNAs can be used to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous tissues. These RNAs can also be used to classify cancer patients into subgroups of individuals that have different survival outcomes. Read more...

Study reveals unexpected cell hijack method in pancreatic cancer

LONDON, 10 February 2014 – Pancreatic stellate cells, which normally aid tissue repair, unwittingly help pancreatic cancer grow and spread in a method of 'cell hijack' only seen before in brain and breast cancer, according to new research from Queen Mary University of London. Read more...

Two sides of a safety switch

ZÜRICH, 6 February 2014– ETH-Zurich researchers have discovered a new, surprising link between chloracne and a molecule that protects cells against stress: if Nrf2 gets out of control, disfiguring cysts form on the skin. Read more...

Research team publish heart cell breakthrough

TAIPEI, 29 January 2014 – A research team at National Cheng Kung University said they have found that an organic compound used to induce labor can revive heart muscle cells, which had been regarded as impossible to regenerate after the first month of birth. Patrick Hsieh (謝清河), the stem-cell team leader at the school’s Institute of Clinical Medicine, said that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) can regulate cardiac stem-cell activity and induce heart regeneration in mice, even in aged mice. Read more...

Finding Points to Possible New Parkinson’s Therapy

ROCHESTER, 28 January 2014 – A new study shows that, when properly manipulated, a population of support cells found in the brain called astrocytes could provide a new and promising approach to treat Parkinson’s disease. These findings, which were made using an animal model of the disease, demonstrate that a single therapy could simultaneously repair the multiple types of neurological damage caused by Parkinson’s, providing an overall benefit that has not been achieved in other approaches. Read more...

Cannabis during pregnancy endangers fetal brain development

STOCKHOLM, 27 January 2014 – A current study by an international consortium of researchers, including researchers from Karolinska Institutet, shows that the consumption of cannabis during pregnancy can impair the development of the fetus brain with long-lasting effects after birth. Cannabis is particularly powerful to derail how nerve cells form connections, potentially limiting the amount of information the affected brain can process. Read more...

Quality control of mitochondria as a defense against disease

HEIDELBERG, 20 January 2014 – Scientists from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital in Canada have discovered that two genes linked to hereditary Parkinson’s disease are involved in the early-stage quality control of mitochondria. The protective mechanism, which is reported in The EMBO Journal, removes damaged proteins that arise from oxidative stress from mitochondria. Read more...

Stem cells overcome damage in other cells by exporting mitochondria

HEIDELBERG, 16 January 2014 – A research team has identified a protein that increases the transfer of mitochondria from mesenchymal stem cells to lung cells. In work published in The EMBO Journal, the researchers reveal that the delivery of mitochondria to human lung cells can rejuvenate damaged cells. The migration of mitochondria from stem cells to epithelial cells also helps to repair tissue damage and inflammation linked to asthma-like symptoms in mice. Read more...

Researchers propose alternative way to allocate science funding

HEIDELBERG, 8 January 2014 – Researchers in the United States have suggested an alternative way to allocate science funding. The method, which is described in EMBO reports, depends on a collective distribution of funding by the scientific community, requires only a fraction of the costs associated with the traditional peer review of grant proposals and, according to the authors, may yield comparable or even better results. Read more...

2013

EMBO announces the launch of EMBO Press

EMBO Press

HEIDELBERG, 29 October 2013 – EMBO today announced that it will launch EMBO Press on December 15. EMBO Press is a new publishing platform for The EMBO Journal, EMBO reports, Molecular Systems Biology and EMBO Molecular Medicine that provides opportunities for the future development of the journals. Read more...